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[revised 4/21/2002 to add alt.mothers to the crosspost list and remove
tags that are no longer in use]

Following are some of the acronyms, subject tags (abbreviations that appear
in brackets in some subject headers) and Usenet terms you may see in
misc.kids.moderated.

SUBJECT TAGS
misc.kids.moderated currently uses a few subject tags to helps readers
navigate the newsgroup more easily. These tags appear in brackets at the
start of the subject line of a post. Only two tags are required;
moderators will add them to posts when applicable. Readers may also use
their own if desired. These tags appear in brackets at the start of the
subject line of a post. Most posts have no corresponding tags.

REQUIRED TAGS

(applied by moderator, or applied by poster and verified by moderator)

[META] Posts discussing moderation practice and/or general
issues of interest to the operation of the newsgroup, but not
directly related to parenting. Examples include: questions
or comments related to moderation decisions, comments related
to how readers feel about specific threads, and discussions
or proposals related to activities such as regional picnics,
t-shirts or photo albums, yearbooks, etc.

MODERATOR-APPLIED TAGS

In addition, "official" posts from the moderators or moderation board
will be tagged as either:

[FAQ] - for regularly posted FAQ documents.

[ADMIN] - for notices made about the newsgroup.

ACRONYMS
Please note that some of these acronyms may have different meanings
elsewhere in Usenet.

KID AND FAMILY RELATED:

AFP Alphafetoprotein test
AH/OH At Home/Outside the Home (where parents work)
BF Breastfeeding or Bottle Feeding
BIL Brother-In-Law
BK Before Kids
BM Breast milk or Bowel Movement, depending on context
CIRC, circ Circumcision
CTTS, CTTD Cute Things They Say, Cute Things They Do
DCP Day Care Provider
DH, DW Dear Husband, Dear Wife
FIL Father-In-Law
K Kindergarten
MIL Mother-In-Law
mo month-old (as in 18mo for an 18-month-old child)
ONNA Oh No, Not Again (another month has gone by without a
pregnancy)
Pre-K Pre-Kindergarten
PS Preschool
PT Part Time or Potty Training, depending on context
SAH Stay at Home
SIL Sister-In-Law
SO Significant Other
STTSW Strange Things They Sleep With
VBAC Vaginal Birth After Cesarean
WAH Work At Home
WIWAK When I Was A Kid
WOH Work Outside the Home
YKYAPW You Know You're A Parent When
yo year-old (as in 4yo for a 4-year-old child)

GENERAL EXPRESSIONS:

AFAIK As Far As I Know
BTDT Been There, Done That
BTW By The Way
FS For Sale
FWIW For What It's Worth
FYI For Your Information
HTH Hope This Helps
IIRC If I Recall Correctly
IMHO In My Humble (or Honest) Opinion
LOL Laughing Out Loud
OTOH On The Other Hand
ROTFL Rolling On The Floor Laughing
TIA Thanks In Advance
TTSP This Too Shall Pass
YMMV Your Mileage May Vary (i.e. every family is different and
what worked for me may not work for you)

USENET TERMS:

Many misc.kids.moderated readers are experienced Usenet readers and
posters. They tend to use shorthand words and phrases common through-
out Usenet. Some of the more common terms are included below:

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions (an informational post answering
common questions on a topic).
Flame An angry message directed at another person or people.
Kill file A means by which some newsreaders enable you to identify and
screen out posts you do not want to read, based on keywords
or names you specify. Whether you can have a kill file and
how to use it depend on your newsreader program.
Spam Bulk email or Usenet posts that are massively crossposted or
multi-posted. Some people call any out-of-place commercial
post or email "spam."
Troll An insincere message, posted in hopes of upsetting people,
inciting arguments, and stirring up trouble.
Vent A message to let off steam.